Voice of God

Question: 

I have a question about the voice of God the Father and whether we can hear it or not. Deut 5:24-26, Ex 20:19 etc show that people of the Old Testament believed that if they heard Gods voice they would die. Jesus tells is in Jn 5:37 that we have not seen or heard God the Father at any time, and yet at Christs baptism and transfiguration, the Fathers voice is heard. What does our Orthodox Church teach on this? Can a mere human hear the voice of God the Father or is there another explanation?  

Dr. Alexander Roman alex@unicorne.org

The Feasts of the Theophany or Baptism of OLGS Jesus Christ and of the Transfiguration are "Trinitarian" feasts in that all Three Divine Persons make Their Presence manifest during these sacred events.  And the icons of these Feasts, along with that of Pentecost and of the Hospitality of Abraham, are blessed by the Church as icons of the Holy Trinity.

At both the Theophany and the Transfiguration, God the Father's Voice is heard audibly by those present.  When our Lord spoke of those who "have never heard His Voice" in John 5:37, He was speaking of those who were immediately with them and who were opposing His teaching and witness.  Thus, Christ's words applied only to them who, as a result of their refusal to accept Him, would not be able to hear His Voice.

With the coming of God Incarnate in the New Testament, God is closer to humanity, indeed He has come to dwell among us, having wrapped Himself in our nature to save it and deify it.  The Grace of Christ makes us sons of God by adoption through faith and baptism and so we are united to God the Father and the entire Trinity.  God comes down to us not only in the Divine-Human Person of Christ, but also in the Voice of the Father which is audible to our human ears and in the figure of the Dove of the Holy Spirit.  The closeness of God to us no longer holds any terrors, as sometimes obtained in the Old Testament. 

Those who hear God's Voice are those who are called to come to Him through Christ by means of the Holy Spirit.  We too may hear that Voice within our hearts.  That Voice is always speaking to us, wherever we are and whatever we do.

Just a few blocks from where I am writing this there is a cemetery where there is buried Ann Preston, an Irish woman who reposed in the Lord on June 21, 1906.

So intimate was her relationship with God that she boldly told everyone about her "Father" and what He was telling her to do and meditate about.  She constantly asked her Father for advice.  As she looked after a family, she asked her Father what to cook for dinner etc.  She spent two hours daily in meditation with her Father and her biography is filled with examples of how she was guided by the voice of her Father.

One Sunday, it was snowing in Toronto and she was wondering how she was to get to church.  Her Father, she said later, told her a man would come in a black coat with a horse-drawn wagon and would take her to church.

So Ann got dressed and waited outside in the cold on the porch of the house.  Sure enough, a man came with a wagon and she waved to him to come and pick her up.  "My Father told me you would come to take me to church!" Ann said.

"Madam, I don't ride with women, I'm a Catholic priest . . ." said the surprised gentleman.  "And, besides, who is your 'father?'"

"Oh, well why didn't you say so? the priest said.  "Come on up, then."

The priest took Ann to church and the whole way there Ann heaped up all kinds of Bible verses she had committed to memory to tell him about the love of God in Jesus Christ!

What is more, Ann never learned to read, but she could read the Bible without difficulty!

Ukrainian Orthodoxy